BoE raises base rate to 4.75%

The decision to increase rates will come as a surprise to many who had expected the MPC to hold interest rates for a 12th consecutive month although there had also been a growing sense in some quarters that a rise in the base rate was imminent. According to the most recent minutes from the last meeting of the MPC the committee voted unanimously to hold interest rates at their current level. But a steep rise in house price inflation and a downturn in activity in the manufacturing industry along with inflation creeping slightly beyond the Bank’s target of 2% - at 2.5% - may have played a rol...